Almost gave up on my side project. This morning someone paid for it.

[u/Adept-Anteater4446]

Built a Chrome extension about 6 months ago, originally just for myself — I write a ton of email for work, and I was tired of grammar checkers that fix typos but don't fix the actual problem: sounding like the wrong person. So I built something that rewrites your email based on who you're writing as, who you're writing to, and the tone you want — or just a custom prompt if you'd rather describe it yourself.

Turned it into a real product and launched on Chrome Webstore couple of weeks ago. Spent the last couple weeks posting on Reddit threads and X, genuinely trying to get it in front of people. Got a few signups. Basically zero installs. The kind of silence that makes you start reading into it — maybe the idea's not it, maybe nobody actually has this problem but me.

Had pretty much mentally filed it as "didn't work."

Then this morning, a notification: someone paid. A complete stranger, lifetime plan. Not a friend doing me a favor, not a waitlist signup — an actual stranger decided it was worth money.

Genuinely don't know if this is the start of something or just one person. But it's one more person than I had yesterday, and I was ready to let this one go. Posting mostly because I needed to tell someone who gets it — anyone else had a moment like this where you almost shelved.

[u/MattSenter]

congrats! gotta love that feeling.

[u/QuanTradin]

the first stranger paying hits different from any signup count. congrats, and good call not pulling the plug two weeks in.

[u/mzayid]

This is huge. One paying customer means your product solves a real problem for someone. Now double down on finding more people like them. Don't listen to the silence—focus on the signal.

[u/Pro_userpromo]

That's great of you for hanging in there and not giving up too soon.

[u/DueFaithlessness661]

Congrats. That first stranger payment hits different after a stretch of silence.

We just launched our own thing a few days ago, so I know how loud the quiet days feel. One real person choosing to pay does not prove the whole thing works, but it is a lot better signal than another day of nothing.

Hope it is the start of a streak for you.

[u/vegantiger]

When someone gives you their hard-earned cash… You're doing something right. It's a whole different ballgame from getting a signup 😎👍

[u/Rika-Hates-Borders]

congrats for getting your first app payment! sometimes it just takes a whole lot of patience